1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to food processing systems, and more specifically to commercial processes for preparing battered foods. The process begins with a raw food product, and ends with a quality battered, fully cooked food product with a par-fried coating of batter. A variety of food products can be battered by the present invention including chicken, fish, chicken fried steak, potatoes, and a variety of other meats and vegetables.
2. Description of Related Art
Consumers are constantly searching for safe, better tasting foods that require less and less time to prepare from the time of thawing/ordering to the time of consumption. For example, commercial food processing companies provide fast food restaurants and the like with large quantities of several types of par-fried and fully fried food products. These food processing companies must keep up with the tremendous demand in, for example, poultry in the form of chicken fingers, created by the customers of these restaurants. Customers demand the tastiest chicken fingers having a hot, moist chicken piece surrounded by a crispy batter, which chicken finger can be served almost immediately after ordering. Typically, these consumers have little time to wait during the preparation of this meal. Restaurants simply are not afforded time to process and prepare, nor the capital to invest in or floor space to dedicate to the entire process to prepare, a filly battered and fried chicken finger from a raw, frozen chicken piece every time such a meal is ordered.
Other comestibles such as meat, fish and vegetables also are commonly first batter coated, then breaded, cooked by pan frying or deep flying, and finally frozen. These frozen products too are sold to the food service industry or to the consumer at retail for finish cooking either by baking or frying.
There is thus constant innovation in the field of food processing to find just the right mix of heating, cooling, battering and frying to develop a superior food product that will please the end consumer both in taste and in time of preparation. Presently, upon reheating a frozen product, the consumer is left with a food product reminiscent of the reheated TV dinner; a soggy, undercooked/overcooked food product that, if battered, has little or no batter left in tact.
In the search for a superior battered food, the present invention provides an end food product that, upon reheating, has a fill flavor being both juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside, while retaining its fill complement of batter that presents a visually appealing to the consumer. Most conventional battering processes that begin with a raw food product and end with an inferior tasting fully cooked food product are designed only to process chicken. The present invention can easily and simply be modified by, for example, adjusting the times in which the product is left in the various steps of the process, so the present process can handle many different types of food products, including chicken, meat, fish and vegetables.
Several subaltern methods of food preparation are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,674 to Klug et al. only discloses a small portion of a system to prepare foods, focusing on a process for coating a food product attendant the flying thereof, wherein the coating consists of a first dry powder layer, a first batter layer on top of the first powder layer, a second powder layer and then a second batter layer. It is disclosed that the powder and batter compositions may be the same. Klug et al. further discloses specific ingredient ranges for the powder and batter.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,158 to Fischer et al. discloses another limited subprocess of a full system to prepare foods from a raw product to a fully cooked product, teaching coating a food product with gel-forming material, batter and breading. U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,583 to Olson et al. discloses a process of providing a film-forming agent to a battered and breaded food product prior to cooking. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,744,994 and 4,764,386 to Bernacchi et al. disclose more complete processes that include applying a first batter coating to a food product, flying the product, applying a second batter coating, and then freezing the food product.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,684 to D'Amico et al. discloses a process for preparing a battered food product comprising applying a product to foodstuffs prior to a batter layer, so that upon microwave reheating of the food, the food retains its crispness. U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,275 to Nagai et al. discloses coating a food material with a particle/powder mixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,185 to Babka et al. discloses a complete chicken frying process involving precooking the chicken by searing it in water, then applying product, batter and breading to the chicken, and then frying it in oil to set the coating materials. The chicken product is then oven baked and frozen. U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,339 to Samson et al. discloses applying batter coatings to chicken that has been heated. After initial heating, the chicken is predusted, battered and breaded. U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,777 to Chalupa et al. discloses a process to gel coat a food product by applying an aqueous batter, then a dry bread material, and lastly applying an aqueous gel-forming solution over the food.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,169 to Hicks discloses a food processing system, mainly for bread manufacturing, having a product baking stage, a product processing stage, and an endless conveyor which is used to move the product through the two stages. The baking stage comprises a baking chamber and heating elements. The processing stage comprises a chamber through which travel promotes proving of dough. The system may further include a product cooling stage and a refrigeration stage. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,786,566 to Miller et al. discloses a conventional oven food preparation system.
Given the state of the process of battered comestible art as described above, there is a continuing need for new and useful processes for preparing quality par-fried battered comestible products, which processes are faster, safer, and more cost efficient than prior art techniques.
Therefore, it can be seen that a need yet exists for a process for preparing battered comestibles. There is a further need to provide battered food products that are crisper upon reheating.